Films & Schedules
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EASTERN PLAYS

DIRECTOR: Kamen Kalev - BULGARIA

The challenges of life for youth in Bulgaria and many Eastern European countries in the post-Soviet era—high unemployment, lack of direction and opportunity, and rising nationalism—movingly surface in Kalev’s debut film. Disaffected and impressionable teen Georgi falls in with a gang of skinheads in Sofia. When the gang hassles a Turkish family on the street, the man who comes to their aid turns out to be Georgi’s estranged older brother Christo, nicknamed Itso. An artist and recovering drug addict, Itso is surprised to discover newfound motivation after this incident, reconnecting with his brother and bonding with the beautiful Isil (Saadet...

The challenges of life for youth in Bulgaria and many Eastern European countries in the post-Soviet era—high unemployment, lack of direction and opportunity, and rising nationalism—movingly surface in Kalev’s debut film. Disaffected and impressionable teen Georgi falls in with a gang of skinheads in Sofia. When the gang hassles a Turkish family on the street, the man who comes to their aid turns out to be Georgi’s estranged older brother Christo, nicknamed Itso. An artist and recovering drug addict, Itso is surprised to discover newfound motivation after this incident, reconnecting with his brother and bonding with the beautiful Isil (Saadet Isil Aksoy), whose family he defended. (83 mins.)

First Feature Film.

Winner of the Best Film Prize in the Sofia, Tokyo, and Warsaw Film Festivals and this year’s Bulgarian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

EVEN THE RAIN

DIRECTOR: Icíar Bollaín - SPAIN

A huge wooden cross is carried by helicopter over the highlands of Bolivia. Close behind is a film crew, led by producer Costa and director Sebastian (Gael García Bernal), there to make a new film about Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. A call for native extras leads to a veritable flood of candidates, as the local population is desperate for work. But the drama of conquest and opposition about to be enacted for the movie is soon dwarfed by the real-life struggle of these extras and many others against the government’s efforts to take control of the local water supply....

A huge wooden cross is carried by helicopter over the highlands of Bolivia. Close behind is a film crew, led by producer Costa and director Sebastian (Gael García Bernal), there to make a new film about Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. A call for native extras leads to a veritable flood of candidates, as the local population is desperate for work. But the drama of conquest and opposition about to be enacted for the movie is soon dwarfed by the real-life struggle of these extras and many others against the government’s efforts to take control of the local water supply. Bollaín and screenwriter Paul Laverty have fashioned a perceptive look at Latin America and the historical patterns of oppression that continue to shackle the region. (104 mins.)

Selected Filmography: Flowers From Another World (89), Take My Eyes (03), Hello, How Are You (05), Mataharis (07).

This year’s Spanish submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.